Author: digthewriter
Title: The Candle of Hope
Rating: PG
Word Count: 225
Pairing/Character(s): Merlin/Arthur, Gwen, Gaius
Summary: Arthur's return
Warning: Mild Angst
Written for: camelot_drabble prompt 76: nervous
Notes: Wondering where to go with this...

There were three candles that were placed next to Merlin’s bed. Two of them stayed lit for several days, the third was never lit. The first one belonged to Gaius; it lost its light ten years after. The second, belonged to Gwen; it lost its light twenty five years after. The third, belonged to Arthur, it was never lit.

Merlin had enchanted these candles for the three people that were closest to his heart. No matter where he’d been, he’d have these candles with him, to know how they were.

The day Gaius passed, Merlin floated the candle away with the old man’s body; same with Gwen. The third candle, Merlin kept with him, always. It had been nearly two thousand years when one day, Merlin woke up and Arthur’s candle was lit--it had started burning on its own.

He calmly arose from his bed and saw the image of an old man, someone that reminded him of Gaius. He smiled and murmured an incantation. He looked like himself again, the self he hadn’t been for many moons.

After a shower, he packed his belongings in a bag, and placed the candle in a secure holder. He was once again, a man on a mission. He was once again, something he hadn’t been in nearly two thousand years. Merlin was nervous.